International cricket gets first woman match referee

NEW DELHI, Tuesday - The International Cricket Council on Tuesday named G.S. Lakshmi as the first woman on the international panel of match referees, making her eligible to take control of men’s games.

The 51-year-old Lakshmi, who first officiated as a match referee in domestic women’s cricket in 2008-09, has overseen three women’s one-day internationals and three Twenty20s.

Her appointment came just after Australia’s Claire Polosak became the first woman umpire in a men’s ODI last month.

“To be selected in the international panel by the ICC is a huge honour for me as it opens up new avenues,” Lakshmi said in an ICC statement. “I have had a long career as a cricketer in India and also as a match referee.”

“I hope to put my experience both as a player and as a match official to good use on the international circuit.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s Eloise Sheridan has joined Polosak on the ICC’s umpires development panel, taking the number of women on the body that provides umpires for all internationals to eight.